LOST IN SPACE-THE OASIS
THE OASIS WRITER-PETER PACKER DIR-SUTTON ROLEY NARRATION: Last week, as you recall, a blistering wave of heat had settled over our space family's campsite, along with a strange, unearthly silence. TEASER--not fully recapped--no John log notebook scene, also no parts of INVADERS FROM THE 5TH DIMENSION--unusual that the cliffhanger also continued from the actual episode's action--all the alien INVADER parts of Will popping back out of the ship and the logs are also missing; also missing a few lines of dialogue between Judy and Don (Don asked if she was tired, she told him--hot there was not a breath of air--this was dialogue heard when we first see the water conversion unit--we still see the water conversion unit and the water dripping inside it but the brief dialogue is missing from the teaser of THE OASIS). Outside, we see the water conversion unit. Don tells Judy that if they can insulate the water conversion unit from the current drought they will have water safe from evaporation. Don suddenly thinks he hears something. Judy doesn't. They listen. Don gulps. Above them (?) on a hill or mountain (?) we see rocks slowly start to slide down. Lower deck of the Jupiter II: Penny and Will set the table as cups and plates slide out of the wall unit on a conveyor belt in the middle of the table. Maureen asks Will to get Judy and Don for lunch is about to begin. On his way, Will looks at the Robot and smiles. Suddenly the deck tilts as a shock wave is heard. Penny falls and Maureen helps her up. Penny asks, "Is there gonna be a storm?" A full fledged quake hits. John and Smith, in the lab, shake. Maureen rushes to the ladder--Judy is outside with Don. John follows her up the ladder. Big rocks fall down the mountain in a cascade (stock footage which either doesn't match up or is in a different part of the mountain than anywhere near Don and Judy). Smaller rocks rain down on Don and Judy. Judy urges Don to hurry; Don urges Judy to go, "Get to the ship!" He tells her again, "Go now!" and she says, "No!" but finally, she does run with Don almost finished making the connection on the unit hose. Don runs, looking up at a giant flat edged boulder which has been threatening to rock off a smaller cliffside top which is closer to him and the area. The boulder falls off the ridge at Don! Don, running between two pointed slabs of rock jutting up from the ground, turns to see it but falls (CLIFFHANGER ENDED HERE). The boulder--or rather--a boulder--the one that lands between the two rock slab points looks more rounded than the one that fell off the top of the ridge--falls on top of the slabs and Don's foot---Don covers his face with his arms and hands as little and bigger rocks also continue to fall. NOTE: In syndication, at the end of the usual theme song opening and credit sequence, we hear Dick Tufeld say, "LOST IN SPACE!" ACT ONE Episode opening credits over smoke. Smoke and dust start to clear. Judy runs up the ramp of the Jupiter II, calling for dad to help him. John and Maureen were running out. John tries to move him but his ankle hurts. John runs in for a lever and comes out with a metal pipe to move the boulder. Don slides his foot out. Smith runs to the exit of the ship but walks out to them; John is helping Don into the ship. When Smith asks what he can do, John tells him to get Don's boot. Smith gets it but drops it. The others help Don inside and close the door on Smith without realizing it. Smith opens it, putting his hand on his hips. The sun beats down. John's log: Although we survived the earthquake and Major West's injuries have fortunately proved to be minor, the eccentric orbit of this hostile planet has now confirmed our fears that its sun would soon be a pitiless enemy. The land shrivels under its blinding heat and the conservation of water has become our greatest problem." John, wearing a t-shirt, closes his desk into the wall of his cabin and walks out into the lower deck. John tells them it is now lower in temperature but Judy comments it might just as well as stayed where it was: what's the difference between 145 instead of 147. Will is wearing his t-shirt also. The women are wearing short sleeved shirts. John tells Penny about nearly losing her Big Dipper (in a game of space monopoly or something) and Will gets mad. He argues with Penny and Judy tries to stop this. Will puts his head in his hands; Maureen orders them to stop this bickering. She asks John if they can make an exception and allow the water rations to be given out now. John agrees and Maureen hands out the rations, telling Will not to gulp but to make it last. John climbs up the ladder and out to Don at the water conversion unit. Don is also in a t-shirt. He and John note the slow rate of flow. Don jokes they won't be putting in a swimming pool this year. Last night there was 24 gallons in the tank. John figures they have about a 14 day supply not accounting for evaporation. Don says, "Do you have to be so good at arithmetic?" They look at the sun, hoping they will not stay at this peak temperature for much longer. Don notes John isn't sure, "In that case, until we know which way this crazy planet's going to jump, I suggest we cut the water rations in half now." John wants to check on cutting the evaporation as much as they can first. He checks the dip stick and notices they now have two gallons left, not 24! This is a 24 hour supply. There is no leak. Don asks where the spicket is--John has it locked in his desk. As they take off to check, they hear the Robot and Smith singing Figalo. Smith is taking a shower in a makeshift shower stall. Don pulls the hose from the Robot who is shooting it into the stall. Smith's hair is still full of soap. Don yells he hopes it falls out, telling him he's used the last of their drinking water. Smith tells John he used suction. Don says, "That's probably how you used to sneak gas out of cars when you were a teenager." Smith tells him he was never a teenager in Don's sense of the word to which Don says, "I hope not, cause I'd owe all of em an apology if you were." John wants a meeting in five minutes. Don and John leave. Robot continues singing figalo over and over. Smith moans, "Oh, shut up." Robot says, "That does not compute." Lower Deck: Smith sits in a chair, unconcerned, with his back turned to the meeting going on at the table. John tells them from now on they will have to take their water in medicinal doses; Judy says, "Thanks to Dr. Smith." Maureen comments that maybe Dr. Smith didn't realize the severity of what he did. Smith thanks her. Will talks of the caves with water but John checked as soon as their orbit changed--they're stone dry. If they follow the course of the old river bed, they might find the underground table that fed it but they can only do so in the daylight. Smith gets up to start his routing for them to succeed but John insists he come with them--carrying two buckets, one in each hand. Soon, all walk along a river bed (?-it sure doesn't look like any river bed I've ever seen...and I have seen several dried up ones--this one is merely the usual sand we see on the planet with large stone slabs set up on either side--no sunken in hollow anywhere to be found). Maureen tells Penny that Debbie will have to wait for her water just like everyone else. Smith sits on a rock with his one bucket and cannot go on. Will claims he is too old. Smith says, "I'm not that old, young man." Maureen asks if she can give Smith his dose of water and John allows her to. Smith asks for another. Maureen says, "Dr. Smith." John tells him to make it back to camp. Don tells Smith not to expect to find any water there--the little he left them is well hidden but good. THE DERELICT music arrives as the family and Don make their way across a canyon overlooking a small water hole. John goes down to it and tastes the water but spits it out. It is no good. Maureen spots fruit coming to the surface. Fruit which John passes up to Don, who cuts one in half, calling out childishly about space papaya and mangos (?). Will says, "Oh boy." It smells like pine. John gets more and warns the others not to eat any until it is thoroughly tested. Unseen, Debbie takes the open one and eats a half of it. Night: below deck: John tests it--in incubation it will take another 12 to 36 hours to check out clear. Judy tells them it looks tempting. Maureen says, "Oh, we forgot about Dr. Smith." Judy says, "Yes, isn't it a relief." Maureen, not approving, asks, "What do you mean, Judy?" "To be able to forget about him," Judy answers. Maureen puts her clipboard down and opens Smith's door. She was sure he would be here by now. Will says, "The way he walks, he's probably still on his way." Maureen goes to the elevator and in a very RARE shot we see the ride up from the lower deck to the upper deck from Maureen's POINT OF VIEW--as she stares out at the group in the lower deck, the dividing floor, and then sees out the window of the upper deck as Smith is eating the fruit. She bangs on the window for him to stop but runs out and smacks the fruit from his hand. He picks up more. She tells him it might be poisonous and he drops them---one by one and plops into a chair, "Poison? Did you say poison?" John and the others come running out. John asks, "What's been going on out here now?" Maureen tells him. Smith blames his thirst but then realizes it was John--he blames John for deliberately trying to kill him. The others react against that notion. Smith says, "This is your revenge on me for using your drinking water to take a shower. I know how you all feel about me--another mouth to feed, another thirst to quench." He tells them this was their chance to get rid of him. He starts to feel something churning in his blood and John tells him they will find a solution. Smith runs in, yelling in fear. Maureen asks if they can neutralize it--John says they might if they knew what to neutralize. In his cabin, Smith is using a stethoscope on himself and checking his inflamed eyes in the mirror. He sits on his bed and berates himself. He then gets up and says, "Well, I won't die alone---they'll pay for this---with their lives." ACT TWO Penny sits on the ramp to the spaceship, Will near her side. Judy is near the forcefield, sitting with Don. John tells them that Maureen went in to check on Smith, whom they can no longer hear moaning (through the door--which is closed--from the lower deck?). John claims that Maureen felt Smith wouldn't be so hostile to her. Maureen opens the door and tells them he is gone--he's gone out to die. Soon, all search: John and Maureen call out to him and use flashlights; Don and Judy do the same, calling, "Dr. Smith." Don complains about him but Judy says, "Don't say it," to one of Don's threats to Smith. Will and Penny are also searching. Will calls out, "Doctor?" They all carry flashlights. Everyone figures out it would be more sensible to try to find him in the daylight. NOTE: As they search, we can see literally dozens upon dozens of footprints--presumably of the production team who assembled this wonderful set--but next time, wipe the prints, okay?). We see the Jupiter II--the metal ramp is gone and we see the stock shot of the Robot trail (from ISLAND IN THE SKY). No camp, no tents, no forcefield. John searches Smith's room and finds he took a shaving kit and other things. Judy argues for Smith's case--about being hungry and that she might have tried it if she just found it lying around. John berates her, "No Judy, you wouldn't have touched it. You've had plenty of training in intergalactic survival, just like the rest of us. And as for Smith, he's a doctor." He goes on, rather annoyingly about not fixing the blame on the drought--something which they have no control over. Penny and Will are outside near the Robot. Penny wonders why Dr. Smith didn't take the Robot with him--it would be awfully lonely without his best friend. Judy paces closer to the spaceship, "He's out there somewhere--maybe dying." Maureen: Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, Judy. I wish there were. Judy: I can't forgive myself for being so unkind to him. Maureen: Well, I don't like to speak ill of him but he wasn't always very likeable you know. Judy: Only this morning I let him know how I felt about him, using up our drinking water. I know I hurt his feelings. Maureen: Well, that's not important now, dear. Judy: Oh, I wish there was some way of letting him know how sorry I am. Penny and Will begin asking the Robot where Dr. Smith is and the Robot gives some old taped answers including, "MMMMMM....Dr. Smith is a reluctant inhabitant of this planet." Will tells Penny it was an old tape he (who? Smith or the Robot?) forgot to erase. Penny: Dr. Smith and this robot must have had a very good understanding. Will: I guess so. Dr. Smith was a whiz at getting the Robot to do things for him--he even got him to play my guitar once (THE HUNGRY SEA into WELCOME STRANGER cliffhanger). Oh, I know he got the Robot to do some bad things once in awhile...but they don't seem so bad now as they did then---I wouldn't mind if he came back and tried some thing bad again---just as long as he came back. Back to Judy and Maureen: Judy: I never thought I'd be saying this--but you know, mother, I miss him, I really miss him. Maureen (staring off into the desert): Well, so do I. I keep looking toward the door of his cabin expecting him to come marching out with a long list of grievances--storming at us because we're so incompetent, then stomping off in a huff because we don't pay any attention to him. You know I read somewhere once that people like Dr. Smith are called injustice collectors...most of them are very nice when they're not collecting. (pause) We'll find him. Judy touches her mother's hands. Penny goes to Debbie's tent and small chair-bed, telling her to "Cheer up"--she will get a drink very soon. Penny hands Debbie a doll. Penny looks up at the stars in the night sky, "You look so beautiful up there, sky. But you'd look even more beautiful if you were all dark with clouds and rain was falling and filling the lakes and rivers and the streams....not until we find Dr. Smith though." Smith records that he has plotted their end as they have plotted his on his tape message but their deaths will be more lingering...these are his last mortal words. He takes the spool of tape off and buries it on the sandy mound he is on and plants a makeshift flag. He stumbles off. Maureen gives a water bottle to Will, Don, and John who are starting off on another search. Maureen will check the culture from the fruit. Don wonders why Smith took off like that, "What does he hope to find out there?" John calls Smith an old bull elephant--who likes to leave the herd when it knows it is dying, "I always thought Smith was a kind of bull." Don finds the water fuel cell as well as the one half pint of water it should have collected---missing. If it is not back by tomorrow night, it will corrode like the others. There is nothing in the tank now. Don says, "I think this might be a good time to start praying for rain." John says, "C'mon Will." They take off to find Smith. NOTE: As the other Irwin Allen shows, LOST IN SPACE has a short signature tune here--about 7 notes--with the title LOST IN SPACE. ACT THREE Smith wanders alone through a tree area--dry rot trees, some woods and sand. He takes his sack off and lays down on his stomach. The sun comes up as Don, John, and Will take a water break. Will says Smith may be dead. Don, lying down, says he will give three loud cheers maybe. Will says, "That's kind of cruel, Don." John wants to give Don some water, "I think you need it." Don wants to pass--he wants to stay steamed until they "catch up with our friendly bull elephant..." and Don looks at Will, "... alive." John calls Maureen on a small radio (a walkie talkie unlike any seen before and not really well seen here). On the lower deck near the closed window, Maureen checks the culture---30 minutes ago the slide was clear but now it has some bacterial motion and is clumping which is okay. If it clumps on the next reading that could mean trouble. Later--Maureen checks it and she, Judy, and Penny are in the Control Room--having set it up on a table. It is clumping--not safe to eat. Penny goes to the window to check on Debbie but notices Debbie's head sticking up through the rip she made in the her smaller tent bed---Debbie is now man sized! She rushes to the ship and jumps up on the outside window sill rim--and bangs on the window. Debbie had the fruit in her bed. The women worry about Dr. Smith. Maureen notes that Debbie looks friendly enough. John, Don, and Will find Smith's flag and tape. Smith rises up, now a giant, standing over the trees, "I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm alive!!!" He laughs. Don tells John he's tired. John tells him he knows how he feels. Turning from an area of rocks, they stumble upon the giant Smith who throws a tree at them, ripping it out by the roots. They take cover behind some rocks. John has a hand wrap around gun--one not used at any other time and one which looks like the regulars used years later in SPACE: 1999--not seen again. Don is using a small pistol with a point--which is not seen again. Smith doesn't realize what's happened to him. John calls Maureen (on a white-ish small radio which doesn't look anything like their other walkie talkies) who tells him the same thing has happened to Debbie--she's grown enormously--they found the fruit in her bunk but she is playful as a lamb. Smith says, "I am Zachary Smith. Dr. Zachary Smith!" Don takes out his laser gun but Will tells him he can't shoot him. He puts his hand on John's shoulder and tells him to let him try to talk to Smith, "Dr. Smith and I are friends." Don tells him Smith is more likely to eat Will rather than the sandwich Will brings to Smith. John lets Will try, "Keep your distance, and remember, son, I'll have my laser on him at all time." Oddly enough, a tree is in the middle of the scene between Smith and Will--noting the split screen which works well until later. We also see several shots of the back of Smith's head and shoulder---looking down onto Will (and later others)--something which looks great and wasn't even done that often on LAND OF THE GIANTS. There are also giant feet which stomp--which is difficult to tell if they are large props or optically enlarged feet and boots. I would venture to guess they are large props. Smith also sneezes, knocking Will (and later others) over. At first, Smith thinks Will is standing in a ditch or that Will is playing another Robinson game. Will tells him the truth. Smith says, "That infernal sun up there--it does things to your vision." Smith cries when he realizes it is true: he's a giant freak. Will tries to cheer him up, "Gosh, it's not so bad being big--think of all the marvelous things you'll be able to do--my gosh, you'll be able to get bird's eggs without even climbing." Smith kneels--now, he cries, he will never be able to go back to Earth--they will laugh at him, put him in a circus sideshow. John and Don come out. John tells him they can try to help him if he returns with them. Then John answers one of Smith's complaints with, "It's better to be big and alive than average and dead...which we'll all soon be if you don't hand over that fuel cell." Smith sees this as wanting to save only their own skins--nice job John. He yells and then sneezes, dropping all three of them. Don runs; John carries Will off under his arm. Smith is left to cry, "What a fate, what a terrible fate." ACT FOUR Jupiter II-the surrounding area looks desolate and dry. Inside, John explains Smith is in shock. The pituitary controls growth and the fruit has made it go out of control. John claims it is in the base of the nose--this is terribly wrong--the pituitary is in the base of the brain! Maureen feels Smith is lonely and frightened right now and he won't admit it. She doesn't intend to reason with him. Don and John take her to him; at first, she is shocked by the sight of a giant Dr. Smith but goes out to the complaining man-giant. Smith calls himself an agromegalopolis monster. He sneezes Maureen down. She tells him she is glad they found him and no one is laughing, "...least of all me." She tells him he is the same person he always was and she answers each complaint of his with something positive--they'll build him a bed and a chair. Maureen tells him he should know something, "You're really a very brave man. You could say that when you ate that fruit, you performed the same kind of heroic act that men of medicine are remembered for. You risked your life the way they risked their's, for the benefit of others. And we're very proud of you. We want you to come back to the ship with us." Smith relents and gets the fuel cell with her which she answers to him that it would be a help. He sneezes one more time. He has a cold. Maureen tells him, "Uh--Dr. Smith, the sooner we get you back to the ship safely, the better." They walk toward the camera and the split screen doesn't work too well here. We see the sun but at night we see two moons come up--one moon is obscured by the clouds. Smith sneezes lying in bed outside the camp. Will tells John and Don at the water unit that Debbie is also sneezing--it must be affecting the nasal passages. Will goes to Smith and covers his feet. Will tells him they have a pint of water and can get one per day. Smith says, "I'll use it for eye wash...in one eye." They hear thunder and prepare to get buckets...but we don't see them do this!!! Everyone goes into the ship and watches the rainstorm in joy--from the control room window. Debbie is on a rock near her former bed. Smith is hit with water and shrinks under the blanket. We hear WELCOME STRANGER music. "I'm little," he cries out and gets Debbie--we hear happy music from THERE WERE GIANTS IN THE EARTH (which was heard during the first hydroponic garden scenes and Smith avoids work scenes). Smith takes Debbie and her doll into the Control Room. There is also lightning. John says something about making coffee. The others rejoice over the rain but see him. Smith complains about being wet but then says, "The simple effect of H2O on my system. However, as soon as one of you good people get me a cup of hot soup and something dry to wear--I might offer up a small prayer of thanks." He takes Debbie with him to the elevator and sneezes as they go down on it. Everyone laughs. As they do, Penny touches Will's shoulders for some reason. CLIFFHANGER-Smith sleeps by the Robot who is standing with his arms inside himself. Holding a bucket of vegetables, Judy comes and tells the doctor that Don wants his help at the drill site. Smith asks her to sit. She does and they look up into the sky. Smith says when there is something up there--he'll be the first to see it and alert the camp. Judy says, "Oh, Dr. Smith, you're incredible, absolutely incredible." Smith smiles, "Indeed, don't you ever want to leave this ghastly planet?" Judy says, "Of course I do, but its living in a dream world, Dr. Smith, to ever think a rescue mission from Earth can ever find us here." Smith says, "Perhaps not from Earth, but I'd welcome any form of intelligent life that might conceivably help us--a hands across outer space so to speak." Judy sarcastically but gently says, "I think I better let you get back to your work." She leaves. Near Smith, bushes move as Smith goes back to sleep. The Robot says, "Approach of alien object." Smith tells him to be quiet--"One more word and I'll remove your power pack." From the bush, a metal crab creature comes out with a central claw and two spiked balls on the end of two long arms on either side. It whirs as it moves at him. He sees it and is unable to move. It has lower tusks and a large light on its nose, two metal silvery eyes. "Keep away from me!" We see a closeup on the crab. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK SAME TIME, SAME CHANNEL REVIEW: Critics of Irwin Allen shows always cite characterization as that which suffers in each series. To this I say: INDEED and DOUBLE INDEED. It simply isn't true. Perhaps not every episode of each series is not filled with long boring talks (ala THIRTYSOMETHING and CAGNEY AND LACEY) for the shows were about ideas and action...and fun. This episode, while not without faults--and a lot of faults--has some of the most touching scenes of the series. Most people fault the Robinsons for not killing off Smith or leaving him stranded somewhere: to this I say--stay away from me--they are more like Smith than the Robinsons. Okay, the family and even Don, were somewhat naive to Smith and didn't always watch him as they should have. But the fact that they seemed to care about him and not to look at his evil ways or faults--makes them more human and fallible, too. Also, many note that Smith's character suddenly changed into a goofy, silly one from an evil spy killer. Not true. If you watch, Smith did change, obviously---but this change happened slowly and over time---in MY FRIEND and INVADERS he is still overlooking the lives of the others, even going so far as to give Will over to the aliens in INVADERS. Yet, he does seem to care for Will a bit through all the greed he shows and he also tends to remember all the bad things he has done, mentioning these things in both those episodes. This is not jarring either--he expressed a liking for Will as far back as ISLAND IN THE SKY. Still, one does seem to remember that in that episode, Smith was plotting to kill everyone using the Robot. I think the Robinsons affected Smith more than he'd like to admit to...and also probably affected Don also. Don hates Smith but is also somewhat humanitarian in that when push comes to shove, he won't kill him or even pound him to a pulp--maybe just short of it--and wants to find him alive. I quoted a great deal of dialogue from the show to show that they did tackle the problem of this change and in a good way--the Robinsons were good people and willing to forgive Smith, especially since Smith was showing small signs of trying to help them. The Robinsons would never be able to kill Smith--perhaps they could not even live with the fact that he would be put into "cold storage" in the freezing tubes. Also remember that Smith professed to turn over a new leaf in ISLAND IN THE SKY and seemed genuinely worried about Will out with the Robot on the loose (true, under his earlier orders to kill them all when found alone with one of them); he also seemed to care that they don't die in THE HUNGRY SEA and goes to several lengths to keep them alive. Then we have this episode which kind of shifts the hate relationship to a love-hate one. John, Maureen, Judy, Penny, and Will all talk favorably about Dr. Smith, he having taken a place in their hearts in various ways--he is also a fellow survivor, thus a feeling of empathy might be there as well. Smith, at the end of OASIS, calls them "good people" and Don, too, even seems to laugh that Smith is normal again (or as close as Smith can get. The Robot sings. He utters THAT DOES NOT COMPUTE for the first time. Problems: The rock that falls on Don---it has about three different looks. The pituitary gland is at the base of the brain, no the nose. Rain on the outside of Smith and Debbie---how would that affect the pituitary? And didn't Smith get any water at all to drink before it rained? Debbie? John could have boiled the water that they found--when steam is given off, it is chemically pure and can be condensed back to drinkable water. Smith's clothes grow with him---that is another fault and also shrink back with him!!! The giant subplot of this tale was much better handled on LAND OF THE GIANTS in GENIUS AT WORK with Fitzhugh and Chipper growing giant. Judy begins her sticking up for Smith more (she did a bit in INVADERS) and Maureen and Smith seem to be developing a relationship--although it is difficult to believe that she would trust him after he tried to murder Will in THERE WERE GIANTS. Still, the scenes between Judy and Maureen, Penny and Will, all discussing their relationship with Smith, are a nice staple to the show and its changing---very moving and caring. It is also nice to note that LOST IN SPACE probably has the best continuity of the four Allen shows---the oasis, the orbit change, the heat, etc--as well as other things are carried throughout this season and this episode. While not the best of season one and certainly not without a great deal of story problems (almost all of Peter Packer's stories have problems), this one is entertaining for the insight into the characters and their relationship with Smith and his with them. Another thing to ponder is what the Robinson's reactions were if and when they heard Smith's tape--I suppose they could credit the alien food with having the effect of wanting to murder them and plot their end.